Two second-half Teemu Pukki goals and Onel Hernandez’s early opener saw Norwich City beat the Blues 3-0 at Carrow Road as Town continue their long wait for a derby victory. Hernandez put the Canaries in front in the second minute of a first half which saw Blues boss Paul Lambert and Norwich head of performance Chris Domogalla red-carded after the teams and staffs clashed in the closing stages. Town were the better side for much of the second half before Pukki goals on 65 and 81 sealed the win for the top of the table Norfolk side.

Skipper Luke Chambers, outcast left-back Jonas Knudsen, Trevoh Chalobah, Jon Nolan and Will Keane all returned to the Blues side but centre-half James Collins remained unavailable due to his hamstring injury.

Chambers, who missed the Sheffield Wednesday match due to a foot problem, partnered Matthew Pennington at the heart of the defence with James Bree at right-back and returning-to-the-fold Knudsen, who last played at QPR on Boxing Day having indicated he'd like to move on in January and who netted home and away in East Anglian derbies in 2016/17, on the left. Toto Nsiala dropped to the bench, while Myles Kenlock was missing from the 18.

In midfield, Cole Skuse was joined by Chalobah and Nolan with Teddy Bishop and Flynn Downes on the bench.

Up front, Keane started in the centre with Freddie Sears playing a more than usually advanced role on his left and Alan Judge more central with Collin Quaner not among the subs.

Norwich, second in the Championship following yesterday's games, were unchanged from the team which beat new leaders Leeds United 3-1 last week with ex-Blues striker Jordan Rhodes on the bench.

Town got off to the worst possible start with the Canaries taking the lead in the second minute. The Blues failed to clear Max Aarons’s cross from the right, Hernandez’s shot was blocked but the ball was headed back across the box by Mario Vrancic and the German turned home from close range.

Having got their noses in front and their tails up, Norwich continued to take the game to the Blues. On six Emi Buendia crossed from the left and Vrancic nodded well wide.

Two minutes later, Aarons got round the back of Knudsen on the Norwich right but Pukki stabbed wide at the near post.

Town took a while to get into the game but in the 16th minute they won two corners on the right. From the first Judge played a low ball in to Skuse, whose effort was blocked. Then, from the subsequent flag-kick, Chambers headed over.

On 20, after a promising Blues attack down the left had ultimately comer to nothing, Vrancic curled over from the edge of the box following a Canaries break.

But Town were starting to dominate play. On 23 a long spell of possession led to Judge hitting a shot from 20 yards which was blocked.

Three minutes later, Christoph Stiepermann shot wide with a powerful effort from the edge of the box, before play moved back to the other end with Judge overhitting a pass in for Keane inside the area.

The Blues were well in the game, however, with Judge becoming increasingly influential and moments later Chalobah shot over from the 18-yard line. On 32 Skuse was shown the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Vrancic having been spoken to earlier by referee Peter Bankes about a previous transgression.

Keane made the most of some hesitant Norwich defending in the 39th minute to tee-up Judge but the former Brentford man’s shot was little trouble for Tim Krul in the home goal. Two minutes later, Pennington slid in to prevent a through ball from reaching Pukki.

In the 42nd minute the Blues were forced into a substitution with Sears, who had hurt his knee in a challenge a few minutes earlier, making way for Ellis Harrison.

Moments after being introduced, the ex-Bristol Rovers frontman was involved as the Blues battled their way to a chance in the box, Judge eventually hitting a low shot from a tight angle which deflected behind.

Norwich were forced into a change just before the break with Vrancic succumbing to a knee injury which had hampered him all half.

Moments before the whistle the game erupted after Norwich’s players reacted to a Nolan challenge on Aarons. Judge in particular was shoved by Canaries players, then as the melee was beginning to subside there was a clash between some of the Norwich staff and Town players including Harrison.

Seemingly as a result, Canaries head of performance Chris Domogalla and Blues boss Lambert were involved in an exchange which saw the two of them separated by stewards with a police officer subsequently moving the Town boss away from altercation.

Eventually, when order had been restored, referee Bankes showed a yellow card to Nolan for his challenge and reds to Domogalla and Lambert, much to the delight of his old supporters in the home stands.

There was no time for further action before the whistle ended a half which Town won’t have been too unhappy with, aside from the early goal and their manager having been sent to the stands.

Having given away the lead in the second minute, the Blues weathered the Norwich storm which followed and had been in control for spells, albeit without having been able to carve out anything more than a half-chance.

Norwich had also had periods on top and had had the more dangerous moments in and around the area, however, without Bartosz Bialkowski having been forced into a serious save. Despite being behind at half-time Town remained very much in the match.

Boss Lambert took a seat next to general manager football operations Lee O’Neill and fitness coach Jim Henry in the stand ahead of the second half.

The Blues were first to seriously threaten after the restart in the 54th minute. After Chambers had taken the ball away from Hernandez as he broke through towards goal, Town counter-attacked with Chalobah finding Harrison on the right. The sub crossed low and the ball was bundled behind at the near post ahead of Keane.

Town continued to push and on 58 Norwich skipper Zimmermann did superbly to slide in and block Harrison’s shot from the right of the box after he had been played in by Chalobah. Two minutes later, Jamal Lewis was booked for pulling back Chalobah.

Match Gallery: 15 photos

The Blues were well in control but without having carved out the chance which would get them back on terms. On 63 Norwich sub Tettey scuffed wide after Knudsen’s clearing header had fallen to him on the edge of the box.

Norwich’s victory was all but sealed in the 66th minute when Judge shot low just past Krul’s right post and then the Canaries doubled their lead.

Buendia played a pass from the right for Pukki to run on to and the Finn struck a low shot across Bialkowski and into the net.

Norwich should have made it 3-0 in the 70th minute when through two against one with Pennington grounded. However, Stiepermann’s pass to the unmarked Pukki was blocked by Chambers.

The Canaries had the ball in the net again in the 73rd minute when Pukki added a perhaps unnecessary final touch after Zimmermann had flicked on a corner from the right. Moments later, Town switched Skuse for Teddy Bishop.

On 76 Tom Trybull was booked for fouling Bishop, then three minutes later Stiepermann was also yellow-carded for tripping the sub, who signed a new contract yesterday.

With 1-0 minutes on the clock, the Canaries made it 3-0 with Pukki stabbing past the advancing Bialkowski from close range from Buendia’s ball through.

Downes took over from Nolan for the final five minutes with the Canaries replacing Stiepermann with Todd Cantwelll, then former Blue Rhodes for double-goalscorer Pukki.

The game erupted again seconds before the end of scheduled time after Downes had fouled Buendia on the halfway line. The Blues midfielder and Norwich sub Todd Cantwell were both booked.

There was no further action before referee Bankes ended yet another derby disappointment for the Blues, who following the weekend’s matches are now nine points plus goal difference from safety at the bottom of the table.

Having gone down to the early goal, the Town fans in the Jarrold Stand, who remained in good voice throughout, might have feared an even bigger defeat but they held off the early storm and the first period was ultimately an even enough affair.

The Blues had most of the ball for much of the first half but crucially without being able to create a serious chance to get them back on terms, a problem week in, week out for Town.

Norwich, however, bided their time and when they got the ball in Town’s half, they created opportunities for Pukki, who took his total for the season to 21 and claimed derby bragging rights once again, although 3-0 flattered the home side somewhat on the balance of the game overall.

Town will hope to bounce back from the result and make up some ground in their increasingly desperate attempt to avoid relegation when they host Derby County at Portman Road on Wednesday.

Play Football, Lose WeightIpswich places available now. Save 50% of your registration fee by clicking here, and we'll donate £5 to Prostate Cancer UK. Read more in our blog about how it works and how 95% of members lose weight.

Photo: TWTD

Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.

Today’s performance pretty much typifies our season. Credit to lambert for taking the game to Norwich and for the positive formation. Sloppy goals conceded by Skuse, Pennington & a hesitant Bart, but credit to Pennington for carrying the ball forward out from the back, but it’s the finishing off that again is costing us dear. A decent performance to build on and some easier games to come, the score flattered Norwich somewhat, but let’s take the positives out from a game few expected us to win.

We lack cutting edge and unfortunately got punished by their only 3 shots on target. That said, I loved the passion and robust challenges flying in. Harrison looked promising, Judge lively and Keane tirelessly won headers. I think the core youngsters in our squad make for a promising rebuilding job. This season is over but Lambert with Downes, Bishop, Harrison, Sears, Lankester, Nydam etc I think there are promising times ahead. Keep the faith ITFC!

We can play with bags of passion but we are completely bereft of goal scorers. We started the season that way and we have just had another transfer window without the owner prepared to put his hand in his pocket and sort this out.

Good article in the Times yesterday about the difference between them and us. Essentially boils down to a very clear line of communication between owner, manager, players and supporters. All elements singing from the same song sheet with shared solidarity and collective goals. Until people become less forgiving about our owner nothing will change.

Marcus Evans has been here 10 years. 10 years since we won a derby. No coincidence. Got to stand up if you want change.

Seems like most away games of recent times seem to be the same - performance okay and pressed and disrupted their play but we can't hit a barn door from 5 yards, Norwich looked anything but table toppers today but like a number of teams we play they still seem to score with relative ease without having to get into top gear. Bart just doesn't look like the goalkeeper he was and maybe a total clear out of the old guard next season which looks increasingly likely to be in league 1.

Thank you Marcus Evans for destroying our football club.. keep handing out freebies to the deluded lot who still support you.. any other club in the country wouldn’t stand for the way he’s run this club! Total shambles! A team patched up with loan after loan after loan season after season.. is Bree any better than Emmanuel?? Is Chalobah any better than bishop? Taken a mid table - promotion chasing championship club to league 1 in 10 years! That part of your 5 year plan? #EVANSOUT

3-0 definitely flattered them, our season can be perfectly summed up as follows. Sold or did not offer contracts to four players who last season contributed to 45 goals between them. What the club should be doing right now is looking abroad for two or three forwards who are young and passionate and above all else can score regularly.

Just gutted and angry. We played well at times but just not that killer edge up front, and a VERY leaky defence. Midfield were ok. Judge, Challobah and Keane were possibly the 3 that I felt played ok. Shame Judge didn't score, but we just have no confidence whatsoever.

In all honesty,we played fairly well but were let down by the same old faces in defence. Knudsen out of position and Skuse a very poor header for the first. Pennington and Chambers for the second and Chambers and Knudsen for the 3rd. If Zimmerman was playing for us they would not have scored, he was what we needed, a true leader (missed Collins big time). Apart from that it was an enjoyable game when we eventually played 2 up top and created some good chances but we snuffed out mainly by proper defending. Yes better finishing from Chambers and Bishop but we created a lot more than previous games. Strangely there are positives to come from a 3-0 derby defeat where we outplayed them for long periods. Need to learn to defend properly, which will ease the pressure at the other end and stop players snatching at chances.

Terrible defending once again.we played well and Norwich struggled for much of the game.The second goal killed the game.chalobh for me had a good game as did Knudson. Full credit to Lambert for his team selection.Same old story cannot hit the back of the net.

Well what to say. Cant slag our lads off for the fight and grit they showed. Just we truly lack a cutting edge. I said the other day if we had kept Walters fit it could have been a different story for Hurst and under Lambert if he had a top striker it could be so different.

All we ever hear is Evans out? Does he actually give the team tactics, formation, team selection, substitutions? Lambert picked his own players in the transfer window? So I'm sorry don't agree with this Evans out tosh. The blame is the teams and managers. Or am I watching some thing different?

I don't think Norwich even tried to play, they looked like they could have 2 players come off the pitch for a drink and we would still go backwards and backwards only and never get a goal. Seems as if they didn't even try and win 3-0, their performance in other matches would have suggest they'd get smashed 7-0, that's how bad we are. I just want the decade to end now, let alone the season.

Is it just me who thinks Lambert has lost the plot? Seen the ‘melee’ a few times on the box and he just goes ballistic at a Norwich staff member who was just talking to an Ipswich staff member??

Get the passion bit but seriously? Getting yourself sent from the dugout in what was probably THE make-or-brake game of our season is simply short-sighted and unprofessional; I take it he will be banned from the dugout for another game or two?

Shame as I thought we played really well albeit as posted by others already, we’ve just not got a cutting edge in front of goal; we should all be worried that our best natural striker (Sears) is going to be side lined for a spell I suspect.

Lambert lost it today and the 2nd half I blame his attitude for. I dont think he is the answer, when we mathematically go down i would start again, we offered very little and were 2nd best, we got we deserved and that hurts

Quite simply we don’t have a goalscorer !! Approach play was okay but no conviction in the box ! Really sorry state of affairs at half time .. not good to see , talk about mind games .. I thought the team did their best but sadly not good enough ! Up to now I’ve been optimistic about getting out of trouble , I now fear this will not happen ! Sad days at PR 😥

Let's put things in perspective here we are a team that can not score we are a team with a next to useless defiance so no suprises we lose 3 .0 to the sister shaggers just sick of them bleeding short memories. Lambert showed some spirit and we gave it ago with our second rate bunch of rejects.no question we are in league 1 next season and unless we find a 20 goal a season striker some creative midfielders and mobile robust central defenders we will not climb out of that abyss .playing with a bit of spirit is not enough itfc really is in a sorry state so who in thier right mind would want to buy it if evens did want to sell and if he does keep it who the f*** is going to want to come a play here ? I'm summery itfc is looking at along haul back it is just so painful losing AGAIN!! to the yellow scum , itfc RIP ALL OUR great history counts for nothing at this current time. GUTTED !!!!!

@Tractorboy1985 - what a silly post, who are the 'tools' aimed at?...what you say about Evans is true and part of the reason we're staring relegation in the face (and has been mentioned by myself and numerous others regarding Waghorn, Garner leaving) you don't get rid of any quality and fill it with inexperienced players at this level. Equal blame has to be taken by Evans and Hurst for the calamity we now find ourselves in and to a smaller degree Lambert whom to this point has talked the talk but that's about it...this can all be said with capitalising whilst typing! :)

This club used to be rich in tradition, a proud club that was known for being a proper football club. The team played football. Developed younger players. The owner cared and engaged with the fans. The club were big in the community.

Fast forward to the current day. Just beaten 0-3 by our local rivals. Terrible defensively. Lacking creativity and up front. Overall pretty poor, but we have sunk so low that some (all of whom are entitled to their opinion), thought we played well and can take positives. I don’t agree. We have been soundly beaten AGAIN. We are as low as it gets. We have SIX loan players - Chalobah aside - most are very very poor. The two strikers nowhere near good enough and one of which didn’t get selected today. For me, we should ditch the loans and short term players. Selecte our players. Harrison & Jackson aren’t great - but no one will convince me that Keane and Quaner are any better.

Am I the only person who thought we were awful today again not stringing 3 or 4 passes together,hoofballs up the pitch to know one.Im so embarrassed as a town supporter not because of our league position but the tripe that been dished out to us long suffering fans.Yes we huffed and puffed all day but its a sad state we are in and dont think its going to be easy ride in league1 playing that rubbish football with the likes of cant cross his legs Knudsen,hoofball Chambers,and to slow exScuse.

Gutted over this result,,was so looking forward to this game but beating again,,,i still love lamberts passion ,,,,he will turn things around for this club no matter what happens ,,,,our day will come when we beat the scum ,,,coyb